How to use Google AdWords Social Extension

Google Plus Social Extension in AdWords are important.But why? And how do you implement them?

What are Social Extensions?

As you can see below, Social Extensions are shown beneath your Google AdWords text ads. They show the user how many followers your business has on Google+.

If you have already switched all your campaigns to the new Google “Enhanced Campaigns” (what we highly recommend before Google automatically switches on July 22nd 2013) you are lucky. There is nothing else to do for you to connect the social extensions. The Social Extensions are automatically placed with your advertisement!

General requirements of your Google+ profile and website

Create a Google+ profile for your business and update it on a regular basis.

Connect your Google+ profile to your website. The URL of your domain has to comply with the domain of the URL in your ad and the URL of your Google+ page has to be certified.

You have to have at least 100 followers on Google+ before the extension is shown.

Your Google+ page has to be up to date. There should be postings with high quality content. You could use your website content for example.

"Why is the social extension for Google Plus important for my online advertising again?"

First of all you might think that the Social Extensions are not as much of an eye-catcher as let´s say the Sitelinks Extensions, because they don´t take up too much space and don´t really make your ad look bigger. You are absolutely right... BUT: All large companies such as Verizon (as you can see in my example above), Amazon, Nike and of course Google already use the extension. Here is a textbook example:

Social Extensions and the new Sitelinks Extensions!

The good news is: Your ad could easily look like this, too. And that puts you on the same level with “the big ones”. It might even put you one step ahead. Business owners that aren’t familiar with online marketing often think “Why should I make effort at my Google+ page, it doesn´t really have anything to do with my business and advertising!”

As you can see, Nike only has 570 followers. You might even reach a higher value than them if you take care of social marketing. Wouldn´t that be nice?

The more followers you have the more other users think “That website/ shop/ restaurant/… must be good, I should have a look,” It motivates other potential customers to hit the +1 button or/ and take action.

Also good to know:

Once a user hit your +1 button and one of your ads is shown to him/ her maybe even weeks later, the +1 box next to your ad is red and not white anymore. It´s the same text advertisement, but do you see what big difference that makes?

The user will immediately remember you “Aaah, I already visited that website/ shop/ restaurant and I obviously liked it- so why not go there again?”- A positive user experience.

The Social Extensions are much more significant than they seem to be at first glance, right?

How do I motivate my customers to “+1” my profile?

Now that you know about the importance of the Google Social Extensions you might wonder how to get many followers as soon as possible. I just want to throw in some ideas:

Via your website

Always place the +1 box on an easily visible part of your website, don´t hide it at the bottom of the page. Maybe near the shopping cart or on top of the page.

You could also go a step further and create a special campaign for your website like “The first 100 followers on our Google+ profile get a 10$ coupon” – Keep the minimum of 100 followers in mind!

Via other social networks

Tell your friends and followers on other social network platforms, such as Facebook or Twitter about your new Google+ profile and invite them to “+1” you. Of course you can also make use of the coupon-campaigns here.

Via E-Mail

Point out your Google+ profile in your newsletter E-Mails, confirmation E-Mails after a customer signed up for your service or bought your product. Or even better, make the effort and write an extra E-Mail to present your Google+ page to your customers. Optional: Give a coupon to the first 100 +1-ers on Google+.

And so on, and so on… Whatever way you chose, the most important thing is: Make it easy for the costumer to “follow” you!

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